Editing Hypothermia (section)

=== Paradoxical undressing ===
Twenty to fifty percent of hypothermia deaths are associated with paradoxical undressing. This typically occurs during moderate and severe hypothermia, as the person becomes disoriented, confused, and combative. They may begin discarding their clothing, which, in turn, increases the rate of heat loss.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The word: Paradoxical undressing – being-human |year=2007 |author=New Scientist |journal=New Scientist |url=https://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg19426002.600-the-word-paradoxical-undressing.html |access-date=2008-06-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209024834/http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg19426002.600-the-word-paradoxical-undressing.html |archive-date=2008-02-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Turk |first1=EE |title=Hypothermia. |journal=Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology |date=June 2010 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=106–15 |doi=10.1007/s12024-010-9142-4 |pmid=20151230|s2cid=265786920 }}</ref>

Rescuers who are trained in mountain survival techniques are taught to expect this; however, people who die from hypothermia in urban environments who are found in an undressed state are sometimes incorrectly assumed to have been subjected to [[sexual assault]].<ref name="Forensic 2006">{{cite book |author1=Ramsay, David |author2=Michael J. Shkrum |title=Forensic Pathology of Trauma (Forensic Science and Medicine) |publisher=Humana Press |location=Totowa, NJ |year=2006 |pages=417 |isbn=1-58829-458-7 }}</ref>

One explanation for the effect is a cold-induced malfunction of the [[hypothalamus]], the part of the brain that regulates body temperature. Another explanation is that the muscles contracting peripheral blood vessels become exhausted (known as a loss of [[Vascular resistance|vasomotor tone]]) and relax, leading to a sudden surge of blood (and heat) to the extremities, causing the person to feel overheated.<ref name="Forensic 2006" /><ref name="Legal Med">{{cite journal |vauthors=Rothschild MA, Schneider V | year=1995 | title='Terminal burrowing behaviour'—a phenomenon of lethal hypothermia | journal=International Journal of Legal Medicine | volume=107 | issue=5| pages=250–6 | pmid=7632602 | doi=10.1007/BF01245483| s2cid=29253926 }}</ref>